Race background

Freshman incumbent Steve Southerland II faced a challenge from Democrat Al Lawson in a newly redrawn district which could have favored Lawson. Southerland had received criticism due to his statements referring to his $174,000 congressional salary as "not so much" and saying "This job doesn't mean that much to me." Meanwhile, Southerland had attacked Lawson by tying him to President Obama at every available opportunity.[11]

Impact of redistricting

Prior to redistricting the 2nd District consisted of the eastern part of the Florida Panhandle along with much of the Big Bend region along the Emerald Coast, and was anchored in the state capital of Tallahassee and included Panama City.

The 2nd District was re-drawn after the 2010 Census. The new district was composed of the following percentages of voters of the old congressional districts.[15][16]

District partisanship

FairVote's Monopoly Politics 2012 study

In 2012, FairVote did a study on partisanship in the congressional districts, giving each a percentage ranking (D/R) based on the new 2012 maps and comparing that to the old 2010 maps. Florida's 2nd District became more Democratic because of redistricting.[17]